Power Platform 2023 Release Wave 2

Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power Platform Release Wave 2 is here!

With the rise of AI and Chat GPT, this release focuses on Microsoft CoPilot, adding Artificial Intelligence to many areas including suggesting content for marketing campaigns and making Power Virtual Agent Chatbots smarter.

Early access is available from July 31st 2023 with General availability slated for October, 1st 2023.

More information on the new release here:

Power Platform 2023 Release Wave 1

 

The Power Platform 2023 release wave 1 is here, and it’s packed with new features and enhancements to help businesses of all sizes automate processes, improve data insights, and streamline collaboration.

One of the most significant additions in this release is the new Power Automate Desktop, which allows users to automate repetitive tasks on their desktop with the same ease and flexibility as the web version. This means that you can now automate tasks such as data entry, document processing, and image recognition without the need for any coding.

Another exciting feature is the new Power BI data connectors, which allow users to connect to a wide range of data sources, including Azure Data Lake Storage, Azure Synapse Analytics, and more. This will make it easier for users to access the data they need to make informed business decisions.

The Power Platform 2023 release wave 1 also includes enhancements to Power Apps, such as the ability to create custom connectors and new controls for building more engaging and interactive apps. Additionally, there are new capabilities in Power Virtual Agents, such as the ability to create conversational bots with pre-built templates, making it easier for businesses to create and deploy their own virtual agents.

In addition to these features, there are also several updates to the Power Platform administration and governance capabilities. These include improved data security and compliance, enhanced data lineage, and the ability to more easily manage and monitor Power Platform usage across your organization.

Overall, the Power Platform 2023 release wave 1 is a significant step forward for businesses looking to automate processes, improve data insights, and streamline collaboration. With these new features and enhancements, businesses will be able to work more efficiently and effectively, ultimately driving growth and success.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 2020 Wave 2

Microsoft release two major biannual updates for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Online.  The first is in April and the second, Release Wave 2; reached General Availability in October 2020 meaning it is now being rolled out to Dynamics 365 Organisations between October 2020 and March 2021.

The release guide is a massive 546 pages! This covers the entire Microsoft Dynamics platform which Includes modules for Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, Finance and Operations, Customer Voice, Industry Specific Accelerators, the Power Platform and much more.  In this blog we’ll highlight some of our favourite changes but you can download the full guide here: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2134895

 

Sales

New Email Editor

The recently introduced rich email composing experience, which was previously only supported

while composing emails has been expanded to support actions like view, update, and reply from the

timeline section.  This also includes a new interface for attaching files inline and the ability to select multiple files

 

PDF Generation

In previous versions, users had to generate a Word document and then convert to a PDF.  In the latest release these can now be created, previewed, exported and emailed direct from Dynamics with minimal clicks. It is also now possible to automatically generate and send documents via workflow and APIs which is a commonly requested feature.

 

Improved Duplicate Detection

A new user interface that shows more information about why a record has been flagged as a duplicate and more options for how to merge the record and its subordinates.

 

Customer Service

As with the Sales Module, Improvements have been made to the email experience in Dynamics.  There have also been enhancements made to Omnichannel for Customer Service.  Agents can now engage in multiple sessions simultaneously.  Additional options for integration with Microsoft Bot Framework and mobile applications.

 

Finance and Operations

Process Automation for Common Processes such as Credit and Collections.  For example, automatically send an email or letter to chase payment after due date.

Intelligent Cashflow Forecasting which allow you to schedule the calculation of cash flow forecasts to help ensure that cash forecasts are generated at the most optimum time.

 

 

 

Industry Accelerators

Not for Profit

New Humanitarian logistics module which enables organisations to better manage and understand inventory levels, manage goods and services procurement, warehousing, distribution, inventory reconciliation, and donor and funder reporting.

Enhancements to Volunteer Management and Disaster relief, disaster preparedness, and field services features.

 

Financial Services

New functionality for Loans and Mortgages to enable Loan Officers and Mortgage Consultants to collaborate with the bank throughout the loan process.

Wealth Management – New experience and customisations to support Wealth Advisors engage with their clients and make recommendations on investments and financial planning.

 

Power Platform

New features for the Power Platform.  Examples are Microsoft Teams Integration for Power Virtual Agents.  New AI capabilities for Power Automate and Power Apps including Receipt Scanning, AI Templates and the ability to add text translations for over 70 languages in the AI Builder.

 

 

How to email Word Documents as a PDF in a single click

I was reminded of this tip earlier this week, how to add a button to the Word quick access toolbar to email word documents as PDFs in a single click – useful when sending out Quotes and Proposals to customers.

 

This post talks you through adding “E-mail as a PDF Attachment” to your word quick access toolbar:

 

To add, click on the dropdown arrow in word, and choose “More Commands”

 

In the dialog box under “Choose commands from” change it from “Popular” to “File Tab”

You will then see “Email as PDF Attachment”, Double Click or use “Add >>” to add to the box on the right and click OK.

 

You should then have the option on your Quick Access toolbar at the top of the screen.  Clicking the icon will open a new email and, generate the document as a PDF and attach it – all in one click!

 

Do you have any other time saving tips like this?   Let me know!

 

Keith

Bahrain TechWeek 2019 – Delivering a Digital Future

Last month we hosted “Delivering a Digital Future” at FinTech Bay in Bahrain as part of Bahrain’s TechWeek.  There was a great turnout including many banks and financial institutions from across Bahrain.

 

 

We were joined by special guests, Sh. Mohammed Al-Khalifa of Bahrain EDB, Alistair Sergeant, CEO of Purple Consultancy and AbdelKarim Abu Jaber from Microsoft. Our speakers outlined the digital landscape in Bahrain and across the Middle East and how the EDB were facilitating Digital Transformation. Alistair gave great advice on how to tackle Digital Transformation and provided case studies from other financial services institutions. Microsoft outlined into how their products can help.

 

Myself and our CTO, Dylan provided a demo of our Banking Accelerator which is built on Dynamics 365 but weaves in other elements of the Microsoft platform to provide an all-encompassing solution. We demonstrated AI, Customer Onboarding, Customer 360° View, Loan Applications and Mobile Approvals. We finished off by inviting our colleague Jordan to demonstrate a Power BI Dashboard over a Teams Video call, live from the UK.

 

 

The final part of our event was a Q&A session with a lively discussion around the challenges faced by financial organisations across the region and how to address them.

 

We thank Bahrain EDB and our speakers for making the event possible.  We are already looking forward to our next event due in early 2020!

 

 

How ready are you ready to deliver a digital future? Take our quick 5 question survey to find out!

 

Dynamics 365 Non-interactive users

If you have integrations with Dynamics 365 you can create a non-interactive user account.  This is a free licence type which can be used for integrating with Dynamics 365 but cannot access the UI.

To configure this you need to give the user a D365 licence, set them as “Non-Interactive” in D365 and then remove the licence.

  1. Give the user a licence in the Office 365/PowerApps Portal  (Sometimes the user takes a few minutes to sync)
  2. Log into Dynamics 365
  3. Navigate to Advanced Settings -> Security -> Users
  4. Open the user’s record, scroll to the bottom of the page/select the Administration Tab and change the user’s Access Mode to “Non-Interactive”

You should then be able to remove the Dynamics licence from the account in the Office 365/PowerApps Portal.

More information at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-gb/power-platform/admin/create-users-assign-online-security-roles#create-a-non-interactive-user-account

 

There is a limit of 5 non-interactive user licences per instance.

Update 17/3/2021:  This limit appears to have been increased to 7 users. We tested in a demo tenant and when trying to add an 8th non-interactive user received the following error:

“Your organization has reached its maximum number of non-interactive users. To mark this account as non-interactive, mark another user account as interactive or deactivate a user account.”

 

 

Dynamics 365 redirecting to login screen

I recently came across a problem in a trial where Dynamics 365 kept opening a new tab at the login screen.

I spotted in the URL that it was trying to redirect to crmdynint.com which is a problem I have blogged about before.

To resolve, go to the settings cog (top right) and click Advanced Settings.  Navigate to Administration and open System Settings.

In system settings, Scroll down to “Set custom Help URL” and change “Enable Learning Path” to No

 

Settings and Customisations in Dynamics 365 v9.1

Where are Settings and Customization in the latest version of Dynamics 365 v9.1?

In version 9, Microsoft introduced the new Unified UI, a new look and feel for Dynamics 365.  It was still possible to navigate to the “Classic” UI by switching to the Dynamics 365 – custom app.  With 9.1, this app has been removed!

Beginning in 9.1, to navigate to Customisation, Settings etc, click on the settings cog at the top-right of the screen and select “Advanced Settings”

Dynamics 365 April 19 Release notes

Today, the Dynamics 365 April ’19 release notes have been published, these document what’s new in the latest version of Dynamics 365.

You can find the release notes here

 

My favourite feature so far is Dynamics 365 Remote Assist using Hololens.  Check out the video below